February 20, 2026
Let the bot take the meeting
Child's Play: Tech's new generation and the end of thinking
AI “cheat tool” ads spark SF meltdown; commenters say we’re either devolving or just hustling
TLDR: A cheeky “cheat tool” for office work, Cluely, ignited outrage in San Francisco and got hounded out by city officials. Commenters are split between warning of an AI-created overclass and calling out hypocrisy because everyone already uses chatbots, with memes and moral panic highlighting a bigger fight over the future of work.
San Francisco’s streets are plastered with ads for obscure startup tools, and the comment section is losing it. The lightning rod: Cluely, a scrappy app that basically reskins ChatGPT to help with emails and Zoom calls. Its co‑founder’s trolling billboards—“hi my name is roy… buy my cheating tool”—got the company chased out by the city’s Planning Commission, and the internet showed up with pitchforks and popcorn. For non‑tech folks: SOC 2 is a company security checklist, and “B2B” just means selling to other businesses.
The hottest take? A grim class-war warning. One top commenter says Roy isn’t just a founder—he’s the face of a new “overclass” that will ride AI to power while everyone else becomes button‑pushers. Another zinger lands hard: “AI can’t function without humans, but humans can’t function without AI.” Cue the one-word mic drop: “Devolution.” But not everyone’s buying the doom. Plenty call hypocrisy: everyone’s already copy‑pasting from chatbots, so why pretend Cluely is uniquely evil? Meanwhile, practical voices argue the real heroes—the folks keeping the power grid and the internet running—don’t get virality, just the bill.
Memes flew fast: “Let the bot take the meeting,” “AI girlfriend breakup speedrun,” and riffs on billboard gibberish. The split is clear—lazy shortcut to nowhere, or modern office survival kit? Either way, SF feels like a reality show you can’t stop watching.
Key Points
- •The article contrasts San Francisco’s startup-focused public advertising with New York’s consumer-oriented ads.
- •Cluely, co-founded by Chungin “Roy” Lee, ran provocative ads promoting a “cheating tool” and became widely disliked.
- •Cluely reportedly left San Francisco after opposition from the city’s Planning Commission.
- •Cluely’s product is described as a basic, glitch-prone interface for ChatGPT and similar AI models, aimed at assisting office workers in meetings and sales calls.
- •The article notes widespread informal use of ChatGPT by tech workers, with growth driven by viral hype more than product substance.